Ranthambore National Park Tiger Safari Tips and Tricks

So you want to go on a safari huh? You think you can handle the tigers? Well the first rule of the safari is that YOU don’t find the tiger… the tiger finds YOU. Okay maybe that’s not completely true, but it sounded good in my head. If you are like me you want to do everything possible to ensure the greatest success at spotting one of these majestic creatures. And while there is no guarantee, there are some things you can do that will increase your odds and make sure you get the right price for your trip.

We found ourselves in Jaipur and were planning on heading to Pushkar when some of our Indian friends inspired us to take a quick detour to Ranthambore for a safari. We decided the night before to head southeast instead of west and quickly realized that most people plan their trip months in advance. We also learned that the system can be difficult to navigate and a lot of the information online is a little outdated. That being said, I found some great tips and things to think about over at India Mike’s website, most specifically, this link right here. I will try not to duplicate too much information but I want to give my observations and tips for getting your ticket and for getting a good zone.

BASIC SAFARI INFORMATION

Ranthambore National Park is lauded as one of the best opportunities to spot a Bengal Tiger. It is not too big of a reserve and there are many tigers relative to the area. The park is divided into 10 zones and people are randomly assigned them to prevent over crowding or degradation of the environment. A sign in the office says, “Let us follows principles of wildlife conservation. Do not insist for a particular Zone, to avoid over crowding in that Zone”. Unfortunately, not all zones were created equal. If your reason for going is only to see tigers (or wildlife for that matter) consider zones 6-10 to be a waste of money. Zones 1-5 are the good ones but, from what I hear and read, Zone 1 is pretty weak as well. Aim for 2-5 if you can and know that 3 and 4 have a lake so you will definitely see SOMETHING in these ones.

You have two options for getting around the park. There are gypsies (6 seat open jeeps) or canters (20 seat open air… buses?). It is only 200 rupees more for the gypsy and it will be more intimate and more agile when you are trying to track a cat. That being said, we took a canter and it wasn’t bad at all. If you want to get a gypsy in a good zone, plan on booking your tickets wayyyyy in advance.

There are two safaris everyday: one in the morning and one in the evening. They run for roughly 3.5 hours in total and this includes a 20-30 minute bathroom break in the middle. I’ve included a timetable at the bottom as the times vary depending on the month. I received a great variety of opinions when I asked when the best times to see a tiger were. My guide says the best months are April and May. As far as morning vs. evening goes, I’m not sure. One person explained to me that in the colder winter months, mornings are better because the tigers are looking to get out in the sun after the cold night. My guide also said morning safaris were better in the winter. But about 60% of the people I asked said that evening safaris were better right before sunset. At the end of the day, I say don’t over think it. Just go with the mindset that you will enjoy the scenery and other animals… and a tiger is just a bonus.

HOW TO BOOK YOUR RANTHAMBORE SAFARI

You have three options:

Book from your hotel/resort: This is shit and I highly suggest you don’t book this way. Not only will you overpay, but you will also have less control over the zone you get. They really do very little for you. They will get your ticket and arrange for pickup at your hotel, but unless you buy up the whole gypsy/canter you may get last pick for the seats.

Online: This option is the best if you want to be responsible and plan ahead. It is also probably the only way you will have the opportunity to get a gypsy in one of the good zones. The website isn’t the most user friendly but they do provide a guide to help you out.

I didn’t purchase online but I did set up an account and investigate a bit. They appear to give you the option to select the zone you want but I can’t verify whether or not this is more of a ‘preference’ or an actual controllable option. From my understanding it is random. If you buy online your hotel could probably help arrange pickup, or if you want to get to your seat earlier, you can go to the booking office. Windows 7 and 8 will help you find your guide and vehicle.

Buy at the ticket window: At the Ranthambore ticket booking office it says in big print, “Beaware of Broakers. You may be cheated, Purchase Ticket from Ticket window instead of relying on Broakers’ (I find the typos endearing). We went before the ticket office opened and there were people waiting to try and get us to sign up through them… luckily I saw the sign and insisted on coming back when the office opened. The system is a bit hectic so let me share my observations:

RANTHAMBORE SAFARI BOOKING AT THE TICKET OFFICE

First, look at the times that the morning and evening safaris leave and plan on going about 1.5 hours early. For us the morning safari left at 7am in January and they said the booking window opened at 5:30am. We did an evening safari, which left at 2:00pm, and the booking window opened at 1:00pm. The online booking windows were open a little earlier, so you could get your form that you need to fill out and submit. Windows 7 and 8 are for online booking and for help after you make your purchase. Windows 1 and 2 are for special bookings. There is a gate in the middle that will open for you and reveal windows 3, 4, 5 (5 is labeled ‘only for guests’ and the one we were told to use) and one window labeled ‘Zones 6-10’.

Window #5. Stay low, use your elbows and don’t be afraid to go for the eyes!

Okay… that was complicating. So, to clarify, arrive about 1.5 hours before the safari leaves and go to windows 7 or 8. Get your slip to fill out with your personal info. Then, wait in line until the gate in the middle of the building opens that allows you to go to Window 5. Here you will give the guy your slip who will then give it to someone else to enter in your personal info. They will bring you back a printout with your zone, your driver and the amount you need to pay. If they give you a terrible zone, this will be your chance to run or say you want to wait until another zone is available (this may be difficult if it is busy). Then you pay the man and go to window 7 or 8 depending on if you reserved a gypsy or a canter.

Pink slip you need to fill out and turn in to window 5.

Safari info: zone and driver. If you see zone 6-10… run!

The folks at 7 or 8 will get on the microphone and start yelling out in Hindi to summon your guide. The guide will come and introduce himself, inform you that you need to pay the nature guide and vehicle fees, then tell you where to wait until it is time to go. The number of the vehicle on our paper corresponded to the number on the license plate. We went over early and grabbed the seats we wanted.

RANTHAMBORE SAFARI PRICES

RANTHAMBORE SAFARI TIMETABLE

RANTHAMBORE SAFARI SPECIAL HIRE [Tatkal (Instant) Gypsy]

I hope this helps! We went in January of 2017 so if you find that any of this information has changed OR you have some additional advice, then please leave a comment down below. We didn’t see a tiger but if you did then feel free to be an ass and make me jealous by sending me your photos… 😉

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18 Comments

Lilit
on September 5, 2017 at 5:46 pm

Hey! Very good article and very helpful to finally find my answer about the full day safari options and prices as it’s what I would like to make when in Ranthambore this November, however as they do not sell on their official site the tickets for such, I was in doubts about how formal are those exclusive safaris and hesitant if and how to book through a local agency via internet 🙂
Thanks for sharing!

I am happy that this came in useful! I found it quite difficult to get good information on the park so I felt compelled to write something up about my experience and the information I found. I hope you have an incredible trip and see some tigers!

Unfortunately we did not! Towards the end of the tour we heard some monkey warning calls so we drove around trying to figure out where they came from. That was very exciting but unfortunately didn’t end in a sighting 🙁

Muchas Gracias for this valuable information regarding the rates (especially the half and full day safaris). travel agencies I have reached out to have given wildly differing rates!!! Even if the prices have gone up since your trip in Jan, at least the posted prices (pic above) provides an important reference point. Under full and half day charges, it says “vehicle rent and guide fee will be charged separately”. Are these the same rates (Rs 2400 and Rs 500) as shown on the left side?

Oh yeah the price will always be more through an agency. We were told much higher prices and there will be people even trying to sell you tickets before you walk up to the window… and they will charge you more haha. And the vehicle rental guide and guide fee are on rows 4 and 5. They vary depending on if you get the 6 seater or 20 seater vehicle. But the fees are 83 or 30 for the guide and 400 or 350 for the vehicle. I hope this helps!

Hey, thank you so much for the article. This is the first one I’ve seen that has relevant pricing information and pictures. Could you explain the instant gypsy pricing and the full day vs half day pricing? I find it a little confusing. I’m going with my family and we want to rent 2 gypsy for 8 of us. 4 and 4. I’m curious to know what you’d pay for each exclusive jeep. Thank you in advance.

Hey Jeremy! I don’t blame you for being confused haha. I Found myself in that state very often especially when things were translated to English (which you would think wouldn’t be the case). I am not 100% sure what the 10,000 rupee ‘allowance’ is for the instant Gypsy but I am wondering if that is some sort of ‘minimum’ charge… but you won’t have a problem reaching that. I also don’t know exactly how the ‘instant gypsy’ works since I know the gypsies often fill up months in advance for the good zones because people book online. I would recommend following the links to the online booking and see if you can’t reserve something there and it might clarify things. Otherwise, India is just one of those places there where you will show up and see what you get and what happens haha. Just looking at the numbers though it looks like you would be paying (worse case scenario): Full Day- !0,000 instant allowance, 10,000 entry fee, 30,000 eco surcharge, 4,000 TRDF, and 984×6 seats (you have to pay for the empty ones too), plus the vehicle rental (2,400) and guide fee (500) For a total of 62,804 Rupees per Gypsy. The Half Day would be about 22,000 rupees less so about 40,804 Rupees per Gypsy. That would be my guess anyways! I may be off by about 10,000 or maybe it will be completely different haha. Either way, please let us know how it goes and what the total damage is. And good luck with the tigers!!!

Thank you very much for sharing the useful tips. I was planning a booking via https://sso.rajasthan.gov.in/signin?ru=fmdss but also contacted some online booking sites, they all offer different prices.
SO far I understood you booked on the spot and that charged you 1467/-( or 727/- for Indian) per head. That included all required fee and shared gypsy ride?

If I book online I probably will be paying Serial 1 & 3 ( 100/- + 134/- ) and rest 4 & 5 ( 83/- + 400/- ) on the spot to Guide & Driver. Thus I just need to print the same and look for Window 7 or 8 for booking and paying the Guide and Driver.

While booking online, you have a control over the zone which will be alloted to you.
Choose the zone you want to visit and if seats are available you can continue your booking in that particular zone.
I have visited Ranthambore four times and always got best zone in this way. Try booking three months in advance and you end up getting gypsy in best zones, that is 2,3 and 4.

Awesome thank you so much for the information Mahavir! I guess the key then is to know well in advance when you will go. We decided last minute to take a trip from Jaipur so the online system probably isn’t much help to the spontaneous. Did you see a tiger!?

Hola Ivan,
thank for your article, I found lots of interesting infos down here, but tell me, if you will come back to the park, which will be your way to reserve and get in the park?!) respect to the price and to get the best?!)????????

I’m too much of a last minute planner to book ahead. So I would probably do things the same. I would show up and go directly to the window to get my ticket. If I got a bad zone I would probably just wait and try again before paying!

Hi Ivan,
Thank for writing this detailed blog. Do you know where is the starting point for the safari ?
I want to know the place where we board the gypsy/canter. This information will help me decide whether to get my own vehicle or use public transport to reach the safari start point.

Hey Satish! You board the gypsy/canters at the ticket window where you purchase passes. I think we walked there at one point and took a tuk tuk another time but I can’t remember. And obviously it depends on where you are staying!

Haha I hope it helps! And that’s a great question. As an American, I always have ‘tipping guilt’ while traveling and it is often on my mind. To be honest I can’t remember exactly what we did. I know that there was a specific fee set aside for the driver and guide but I think we all pooled together some money for a tip. I don’t remember how much it was but obviously it depends on your comfort level, budget and the job that they did. I think all of us in the Gypsy agreed on an amount to pitch in.